Dim Star
by The Cosmic Penguin
Summary: A 'what if' experimentation fic set 80 years in Dream Land's future, where Kirby is searching for his old friends in a Dream Land that has fallen under the shadow of the Skull Gang and Dark Matter. Story pattern is reminiscent of game cutscenes. [C6 is uploaded, and so it ends...]
1. Chapter 1

_Note_: This story is far different from one of my usual ones. This is not written like one of my usual Hurt/Comfort fics, nor does it take place in the same canonity—it was written solely for experimentation with snippets of future canonity (but with my mind, it really could have been happier and less-dark…). I wrote everything except chapter 5 in one sitting, which is ironic because chapter 5 is why I wrote this story in the first place (it was going to be a stand-alone fic, and so was this chapter at first). By the way, if it seems like the chapters are a bit choppy, it's because this would be like describing six cutscenes out of a big game (like SSBB, for example, or typing out all the chapters in Squeak Squad without playing the levels in between). I just jumped right into each scene.

PS: Did a little editing to the intro.

**Disclaimer**: I, Cos/Star, do not own Kirby, Picross, Smash Bros., Earthbound, or anything else that HAL made. Or Nintendo, for that matter.

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><p>In the plains of Dream Land, a little puffball was waking up in his dome house. He had taken the most refreshing nap of his life and was ready to head back out and have some fun with his friends. Kirby stretched before making his bed and walking outside to the bright-<p>

Wait.

These plains of Dream Land...his home...it was dark, and the skies were overcast purple. Kirby stared up at this strange phenomenon, wondering what could have caused such a thing.

"Who...who are you?"

"Huh?" the pink puffball diverted his gaze from the sky to see a Waddle Dee walking toward him. "My name's Kirby. Who're you?"

"Whoa!" The Waddle Dee jumped back, surprised. "You're Kirby? Like, _the _Kirby? The one the legends said fell into a deep sleep to build up power?"

"What? How—wait, could you tell me what you're talking about?"

"Wouldn't you know? You're the one the legends are talking about; don't you know stuff that serious about yourself? I guess you were a docile hero after all, then..."

"Listen," Kirby begged, almost in tears. "Tell me what you mean. What's going on? Are you playing a trick on me? All I did was take a nap! How long was I asleep?"

The Waddle Dee gave him an unreadable expression. "Well, according to what I've heard from the tribe elders, you fell asleep about eight decades ago after defeating some evil or practicing some magic spell or something. Maybe both. The story varies. Then King Dedede and some of your friends tried to get into your house, but it had some sort of enchantment on it that they couldn't break through. Now we've all been hiding, waiting for you to wake up so you can save us, but I didn't think I'd actually get to see you for real! Now all our trouble is over 'cause you can help us...right?"

"What...what's the matter?" Kirby asked, dreading the answer. His mind was already overloaded from thinking about everything that the Waddle Dee had told him and what it might imply.

"Oh! Well, this...oh, what's the name of it...it's not a form of Dark Matter; they're in a war with the planet's overlords right now—OH, it's the Skullions! I think their ruler is called Mortion; that's his name. As you can see, the sky's dark because they have control over it. Supposedly there was a time when this was the brightest star in space...was that back when you were around? You must be really good; with the war in Skullions versus Dark Matter, I'd be shaking in my shoes! There's no way I could stand up to them without help! I guess I'm better siding with the Skullions though; the circumstances are pretty bad but at least we're not possessed...but—" he became hopeful as he stared at Kirby. "Now you're here! We're all okay! ...Right? I mean, you will help us, won't you?"

Kirby wiped the tears from his eyes and glared up at the dark sky. The horizon was now bleak, and all the land he once loved had been turned into a wasteland. For a while, the hero was silent, and the Waddle Dee hesitated.

"I'll do it."

"Hm?" The Waddle Dee tilted his head toward Kirby. "What?"

"I'm going after them." he stated calmly and angrily at the same time. "Nobody will drown out the planet's light, or terrorize its citizens, or possess them or threaten them or use them or do any more evil until my last breath. I swear it."

The puffball's body was shaking as he wondered how his friends were faring. They were all probably dead, except maybe Meta Knight and Bandana Dee—if they hadn't been killed first. But he'd find out what happened to them all, and then he'd go off to save the planet, no matter how much bad news was lumped on his nonexistent shoulders. He'd send the darkness back to its harmless state, and only then could he rest and continue his life.

For the fate of Dream Land was always in his paws.

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><p>'Mortis' is a Latin word for 'death'. Since Necrodeus's (former leader of the Skull Gang; final boss of Kirby: Mass Attack) name is Latin (<em>necro<em> = death, _deus_ = god), I figured it would be more fitting instead of just having the Skull Gang attack for no reason. As for the Dark Matter, it's an eternally-present force of evil. Nightmare will be mentioned later as a recurring force because of his last quote in Hoshi no Kaabii and his subsequent reappearances.


	2. Chapter 2

His first stop had been Dedede.

All his animal friends, his fantasy friends...everyone else, he was sure they were mortal anyway. It wasn't like he wouldn't get to find out about their deaths—when he beat the darkness, he'd have all the time in the world to find out since it wasn't like he could die of old age. If the darkness killed him in the process, well, he'd get to find out when he was dead. But something had guided him back to the castle in Prism Plains, otherwise known as Pupu Village area. He wanted to know—had his very first friends met their fate in horrifying ways? Or had they died peacefully, and maybe even before the darkness came? Kirby dispatched a few more Skullions with his sword; it had been a while since he'd encountered any of the tougher creatures but fighting ran through his blood...he'd always be able to fight even after waking up mere seconds beforehand. The puffball's once-happy eyes were now glowing out of necessity instead of happiness. His warpstar was glowing, which probably attracted every villain in the area to him, but Kirby didn't care. After all, the more fiends he killed now, the fewer he'd have to deal with later.

He whisked around the outside of the town; he didn't want to be held up by flying through it and having to answer (and ask) a bunch of questions when he only wanted to check up on a few people right now. Dedede was an obvious choice; there was bound to be someone at the castle and Kirby was curious as to who was ruling now.

He shot up to a balcony and flew on in until he was at the door to the throne room. With a bit of magic, he opened the doors without touching them and flew inside, looking around.

To his utter surprise, it looked the same as it always had, albeit darker. The throne was faced with its back toward him, and the occupant of the chair had a lamp next to it with an end table. The table had a few books on it covering various topics, from science to legends and folklore. Kirby hovered over to the throne and peeked over. The scene made his mouth gape.

"D-D-D...Dedede?" His last word came out as a whisper.

The penguin king was older now, but his aging was drastically cut—one would only assume he was about 40 or 50 years old. His expression on seeing Kirby was varied—shock, disbelief, hope, and finally-pure happiness. He slowly turned around in his chair and grabbed Kirby, hugging him to his chest gently as tears poured out of his eyes. Kirby felt a bit awkward, but hugged the king back. It was rare to see Dedede crying over something genuinely depressing; the king had always been a bit of a comedic egotist who was too hard to sadden and too easy to irritate. For him to respond this way...

Dedede finally calmed down and held Kirby up in front of him. "I-I missed ya, Kirby. Even when everything went bad, I knew you'd come save us eventually."

"H-h-h-how..." Kirby stuttered. "H-how are you still alive?"

Dedede gave Kirby a dry grin. "I wondered that myself. You see, I've been reading a bit—no comments, you pest—and it turns out that it's because of you."

"It's my fault?" Kirby looked surprised. "How?"

"Well, I'm not sure, but somehow you 'leak' magic onto people you hang out with and bond with closely. That extends their lifespan to something similar to yours. What _is _your lifespan, anyway?"

"Infinity," Kirby whispered, unsure of how to feel right now. Dedede looked surprised.

"Well, no wonder you could sleep so long. Anyway, so that's that, I'm assuming. Of course, it's been a little hard bein' king with all this dark stuff around lately. When Meta Knight was gone I really started flipping out, and I've been putting all my last hopes in you. Heh, funny about that—I should've been able to solve it, with all my strength, but look at me instead. Hiding in my throne room reading books like a pitiful refugee."

"What…what happened to Meta Knight?" Kirby felt sick. "Please tell me—or do I want to know?"

"Oh." Dedede hesitated. "Well, for a while, Meta Knight was managing to drive off both the Dark Matter AND the Skullions; the Waddle Dees helped him out a lot with the fighting and everything. But then Nightmare came back and attacked us as well, so Meta Knight grabbed the Star Rod and flew up there after him. Then the other two sides tried to attack him after he defeated Nightmare, so he used up all his power sealing the Star Rod and Galaxia to the Fountain of Dreams. He ran away from them, but then they kidnapped Sailor Dee and threatened to kill him if Meta Knight didn't surrender, so he made the trade and I haven't seen him since..."

The two companions bowed their heads, being silent for a moment.

"Well, at least you're here. That's better than no-one…" Kirby sighed.

Both raised their heads simultaneously and locked eyes. The stars in Kirby's eyes were shining brightly, and his face was bent into a grim expression. "I'm off. Where's the Fountain of Dreams now?"

"Same place as always. Do you want me to go with you? I mean, I know—"

"No." Kirby replied quietly. "I stored up enough power over the last eighty years to take on this threat myself. I don't know how this happened or what happened to me or why, but I can settle this. Don't die. You've been through enough. Stay here; I can do this myself."

"Kirby, you're a good kid. After all these years, I hope we can still go back to being rivals, gumball." Dedede stated with a soft grin. Kirby let a small smile cross his lips as well. "I hope so too, fatty."

With that, he hovered up a little higher before shooting out to rid as much of Dream Land as he could of the evil...

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><p>I know that I may have made Meta Knight play too big of a role, but after his failure in the Mirror World and with Kirby gone in the timeframe of his actions, I can't have him screwing up <em>everything<em>.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: For some reason I thought that the last note would be my last, but in my haste, I forgot to mention that Kirby would have wings in the future. Whether you want to imagine them as dragon wings or bat wings is up to you; I can't decide...

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><p>Kirby was surprised to see Fumu in this setting.<p>

He assumed she had been kind of like Dedede, and that his magic had 'leaked' on to her somehow. But seeing Fumu just like she was the same as he'd last seen her...it had caught him off guard. Especially her location and timing.

While he had been wandering around, slowly flying through a forest on his warpstar, he'd seen a light near the top of one of the trees. When he flew up closer to it, he noticed that there was a little treehouse built among a trio of close-growing trees. Out on the short balcony, staring out into the little bit of moonlight left, was Fumu. Her green eyes shone with a sadness and wisdom that he figured his eyes had in them too, and loneliness flooded from her very being. As Kirby swooped down to her, she turned to him and got into a battle stance, but froze when she saw who it was. At first, she hadn't believed her eyes. Then, she relaxed a little, but still didn't seem to trust him.

"Who are you?" she called out in a suspicious voice, eyeing him all the while.

Kirby floated closer. "It's Kirby, Fumu. I'm here."

Fumu gasped slightly. "Kirby—"

She grabbed him off his warpstar and gave him a hug. It started out as a tight squeeze that relaxed to a gentler embrace before she set him down on the balcony. His warpstar flew and tucked itself into a little pocket on his sword hat as he knelt to her slightly to show his respect. Fumu let a smile cross her lips for the first time in quite a while. "Welcome home, Kirby—at least, to my home. Do you want to stay for a while? Tell me about everything."

Kirby reluctantly accepted the offer—he didn't want to bring danger upon Fumu for having him, but her stubbornness quickly shone back through and she dragged him in. Fifteen minutes later Kirby was seated at a small table for tea, and she set some biscuits out on the plates. Kirby merely nibbled at his food, despite Fumu's concern about his appetite. He let everything spill out—his battles so far, his confusion, Dedede, his sadness, everything. Fumu got up from the table, picked Kirby up, and sat him on her makeshift couch before rubbing the area in between his wings.

"Well, there's not much for me to say, Kirby...mom, dad, Bun; they're all gone. They passed away a while ago. I've lived out here, away from the Dark Matter and the Skullions. Sometimes I just sleep, and I think of _you _about that. I wondered what happened to everyone...do you know where Meta Knight is? Once he set me up out here, he left. He said he would be right back, but...he wasn't. Is he...?"

Kirby sighed. "I don't know. I was hoping _you _would know. Dedede said he was taken prisoner of Dark Matter after a battle with Nightmare, but...he might be gone...I don't know."

Fumu bowed her head. "Well, yeah. I didn't figure anybody was invincible. I just...I dunno why it just—"

"Hey, he liked you. Don't get down on yourself because you didn't stop him. Maybe he's not dead after all. I'll find out soon enough—I'm going to defeat all this darkness and make everything good again, don't you worry."

Fumu looked up. "Kirby, are you—"

"One of the books said my species gathered energy as we sleep. If I've been sleeping for eight decades, I shouldn't be short on power. I'm going to protect everybody, and right all these wrongs. And if I see Meta Knight, I'll get him back to you, I promise. He's my friend, too. Everything's going to be fine..."

"I should've known." Fumu grinned slightly. "You're the hero of Dream Land, after all. So go for it. Give it your best."

"I will." he replied as he got up. Fumu looked a bit disappointed that her company was leaving, but quickly hid it. "I'll be back before you know it, and then you can keep studying things instead of hiding all the time."

"Thanks, Kirby. You're a good friend." she replied quietly. "Now go get 'em."


	4. Chapter 4

"Thank you, Kirby. You've done well to rid this area and the surrounding ones of any evil. The only problem that now remains is the factory of evil itself, which would be for Dark Matter. If you can defeat the Dark Matter for now, the air space will be easier to patrol. While the Skullions are no easy enemy, it will help if you can get rid of Dark Matter and their factories of evil. If you shut those down, you can face the Skullions as your sole opponent."

Kirby stood facing the tribe elder of the Waddle Dee clan. The pink hero had just finished defeating every last bit of Dark Matter on the planet and had temporarily driven the Skullions back into their floating island. The only problem that remained was the air bases for the villains that loomed in the sky before him. The citizens of the land had become more confident about walking around their home now, but Kirby knew that the only way for them to be safe now was for him to destroy the Dark Matter base and banish Necro Nebula back to the dark depths of space for another century. Kirby bowed halfway in the presence of the elder—the Waddle Dee elder was the most respected figure of the whole tribe, and the puffball quite liked the Waddle Dees and their traditions.

"It's the least I could do for you all and the planet, sir. It's my job. But, by the way—" he added. "Do you know of anyone who used to be in the tribe about eighty years ago?"

"I know of lots of names, Kirby. Who do you wish me to tell you about?"

"Well...did you know anyone nicknamed Bandana Dee? I was friends with him and I...I wanted to know what happened to him. Did he meet his fate?" Kirby asked timidly.

The elder stood there for a long time. "Kirby, I _am _Bandana Dee."

The puffball stood there with his mouth agape. "Wha—but—no way...are you serious?"

"Dead serious." the Waddle Dee nodded with a solemn look on his face. "Though I've changed quite a bit from my former self, as I'm sure you've noticed. I've become a father to every Waddle Dee here, instead of a spunky, easily-angered wanderer of suburban fame. I've been rather glad to hear that you returned to Dream Land, if you'll pardon the reference." Kirby could tell he was grinning, albeit barely. "I always hoped you'd come back, to help us out even though the rest of us were too scared to try. I doubt things will be like the old days, but knowing you're still around like always brings me peace even in my years."

"Wait," Kirby stopped, on the borderline of crying again. "Why did you age faster than Dedede? Shouldn't you have that older-age-block thing like he and Fumu do?"

"You noticed Fumu's family isn't around, didn't you?"

Kirby was silent.

"The effect is probably random. Or maybe it's chosen by fate; who knows. But not everybody you come into contact with can live forever...just a certain few. My species just happens to have a somewhat longer lifespan than usual. Or perhaps I just needed to see you defeat the darkness with my own two eyes."

Kirby took Bandana Dee's paw. "Don't give up, Bandana Dee. Even though you might not be able to fight with me as well or compete in Air-Ride races any more, don't give up. I could find some magic spell or something and—"

"—and worry about that after you defeat the darkness, okay?" Bandana Dee looked the puffball in the eyes with wisdom he hadn't possessed in his earlier years. Kirby seemed surprised at this sudden change.

"When did you become so good at...psychology stuff?"

Bandana Dee gave Kirby a regretful smile. "When you've lived a few decades, and you've made a few big mistakes and seen a few sad stories...you get a new light on stuff, eh?"

"I...guess so. Eh." Kirby looked unsure as he turned back to his warpstar. As he hovered above the ground, he looked down at Bandana Dee and all his kin behind him. They were all counting on him. "Just...take care guys, okay?"

Bandana Dee saluted to him with his spear, and his fellow tribe members followed him. Kirby nodded to them before flying off to Dark Matter Base.


	5. Chapter 5

It'll be pretty obvious as to why I like this one the best; if I ever delete this, I'm putting this as a fic at least...It was so much harder than the others to write, thus why it sounds so different.

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><p><em>"An intruder has breached the station! An intruder has breached the station!"<em>

Kirby swore as he dashed down the hallways of the Dark Matter plant, wishing that he had Meta Knight's magical cape so he could turn invisible. He just _had _to have mistimed that _one _Ultra Sword beam, didn't he? It had taken out the security cameras, sure, but if it set off an alarm...well, not so good. A mob of Dark Matter rushed out around all sides of him, hoping to overwhelm him with numbers. It seemed as if all his enemies were there at once...

So it left them very unsettled when Kirby smirked as they surrounded him. The puffball's eyes sparked as he activated his Ultra Sword ability and stopped time. In mere seconds, approximately 80% of the Dark Matter force had dissipated under the force of one of Kirby's ultimate weapons. The pink puff twirled his sword and smirked as the blue glow faded from the area. _Looks like I'm not a legendary hero just for my strength—these mystical powers sure make a pretty sweet deal..._

Kirby kept going, raking down security cameras and defense mechanisms as he went. He was after the power source; the fortress had to have one since it was so huge. The force fields around it—and supporting it—gave him a different feel than what he normally got from the Dark Matter. It felt familiar...and he wanted to find out why.

When his wrong-door tally had reached about 37, he came to a door that was huge, dark, and decorated. Kirby rolled his eyes. "Leave it to evil to point out their weaknesses..."

It took a bit more power than normal to break the door down, but it eventually gave way (Kirby actually used the Star Rod for this instead of the Ultra Sword, but he wouldn't tell Dedede that). The strong metal doors fell to the interior, flashing blackish-purple as the magical shields around them started to fade the longer the doors lay off the hinges. Kirby floated over them before walking further into the room. Multiple computer screens were left recording repetitive data about the power source; it seemed to be flowing at a steady—if slightly slow—pace throughout the entire fortress. Kirby briefly analyzed the screens and wires as he walked past them; technical information had been more of Meta Knight's thing but he had done quite a bit of reading before he'd fallen asleep. If he had been given a little more time, he would have completed his own battleship. He'd always wanted to since his first one had been shot down...he wondered if anybody had found out about that little fortress he'd built around the ship project. It was probably all still there.

He caught his foot on a wire and tripped, his sword slicing into a large wire on the floor. Kirby gasped and cut it off completely before he was electrocuted, sighing with relief as the wire ends glowed with white-blue electricity before finally sparking to an end on the half that led to the rest of the fortress. The end that led in the direction he was going toward was still sparking strongly, much to Kirby's puzzlement. With his curiosity piqued, Kirby followed it back to its source. He noticed that a few of the computer screens were pulling up dialogue boxes about technical support, probably because of the wire he'd cut. Not wanting any more Dark Matter to follow him into such a crowded and easily-electrified battlefield, Kirby ran a little quicker, letting his gaze follow the wire on the floor—

—until he bumped into something in front of him. Kirby rubbed the star on his hat before staring up in shock.

In front of him was a cylindrical glass cage with a glowing blue base. Various wires were coming from a box hooked up to the base of the cage, and a small computer monitor was writing code faster than Kirby could comprehend. The entire cage glowed whitish-blue. What was the most surprising part, however, was the creature inside the cage. Kirby banged his sword on the glass, hoping to wake up the unconscious occupant.

"Meta Knight! Meta Knight, are you there? Wake up! It's Kirby; I'm outside the glass; wake UP!"

Meta Knight's wings twitched, but other than that, Kirby's cries went unheard. A few minutes of harsh beating on the glass later, Kirby smashed the cage opened and threw every single piece of glass from the entire cage into a pile behind it. He jumped onto the cage floor in a panic, but his motives quickly changed when his body came into contact with the surface. The pink puffball howled in pain as he felt electrified and energy-sapped at the same time. He jumped off the cage floor and rolled around in a panic as he tried to rid himself of the sparks that clung to him. When that goal was accomplished, he pushed himself up—albeit a bit slowly—and glared at the cage.

_Want to steal my energy? Fine; I'll just take yours._

Kirby walked up to the control box and sliced the lid off angrily. Once he had made a scorching mess of all the wires, he turned back to the cage. He smirked in satisfaction as he saw that the machine controlling it had powered down. The floor was no longer glowing. With that problem out of the way, he cautiously tested to see if he would get electrocuted. When his paws, feet, and cheeks didn't feel anything but a smooth surface, he pulled himself back into the cage and crawled over to his friend. He seemed to be fine at first glance, but he wasn't wearing any of his equipment, and the Dark Matter had connected various needles or wires to his skin. Kirby gently pulled the wires and needles away before shoving him in the side.

No response.

Kirby shook him a little harder, already hearing the remaining Dark Matter troops coming to protect their power source.

No response.

"Dangit, Meta Knight, wake up. You can't be dead, 'cause you're still alive, so what did they _do _to you?"

The metal groaned as the anti-gravity devices deactivated. The Dark Matter flew into a panic and tried to attack Kirby, but he sliced through them like they were nothing.

"Hurry, come _on_, we've gotta get out of here!"

The lights in the fortress started to flicker and dim. Kirby sighed in exasperation.

"No backup generator for the Dark Matter. Score. Fine, have it your way; I'll call my warpstar."

Kirby unfolded his wings and flew off down the hall, dragging Meta Knight with him. When they finally reached open light, Kirby stopped for a moment to rest as the fortress slowly started to deactivate or explode. Dream Land already seemed a bit brighter below him as the structure began to fall apart behind him. Kirby sighed uncharacteristically.

"I'm sorry you had to put up with all that for, say, eight decades. You probably doubted that I would ever come..."

He gasped slightly as he felt the weight of his friend on his side. He glanced to his side to see that Meta Knight had rolled over in his sleep. The blue puffball murmured something quietly.

"I...no; I _know_ Kirby will come and save me somehow..."


	6. Epilogue: Light

And everything was better.

Dark Matter had been banished.

The Skull Gang had fled back to the dark corners of the universe, not to be seen again for another century.

Nightmare was gone, but only for who-knows-how-long.

Dream Land—and the rest of Popstar—had been restored to its former glory.

And Kirby, his friends, and the rest of the Dream Landers were out in Green Greens celebrating their old freedom, newly won.

It was a festival, a celebration for his victory. Their victory. The victory of light over dark. Frankly, Kirby was just glad to have a party and be happy after all his depression and anger he had experienced in beating evil and fixing Dream Land. Now he could sit back, relax, and take pride in what he'd done. And eat. Everything smelled so good; he passed a Chip barbequing something with a creature that looked the same species as Magolor. The pink puff waved at the two, and the Magolor-creature handed him a piece of barbequed meat. It tasted really good, and Kirby thanked them thoroughly. Others had ice cream, homemade chips and popcorn, fresh or jellied fruit, and a whole other assortment of delicious stuff for him to sample. Guests from all over the place had been invited to come; even the fairies from Ripple Star were coming (much to Kirby's delight; he would get to see Ribbon after all these years).

In the distance, Kirby could see his hidden land that he had used to ride through with Meta Knight to Air-Ride race away from the public eye. It had been his secret little place that not even the Mirror Kirbys knew about. It was full of magic and puzzles, and Kirby hoped that he could go back there and check it out soon. Maybe he and Meta Knight could race there. Maybe everyone could try to go back to the tracks and pick up their Air-Ride racing; Bandana Dee would have to get a super-armored machine to race without getting hurt though. It didn't matter. Kirby just wanted everybody to have fun again.

He noticed a group spread out with a traditional checkered red picnic blanket on the edge of the party where others were starting to go with their food to sit down. The group waved to him, and Kirby grinned widely. _My friends._

Kirby walked over to the picnic blanket where his four friends were sitting and invited himself over. Fumu and Meta Knight were splitting a pizza, Dedede was eating a hot dog, and Bandana Dee (who was wearing his old blue bandana once more) was nibbling on some crackers and a salad. Kirby himself had a giant pretzel, and couldn't wait to see what was in their picnic basket. He settled himself down, halfway on the blanket, halfway on the grass, much to Fumu and Dedede's confusion. Kirby gave them a goofy grin in response, and they all laughed.

Dedede gave him a mischievous look that told him to expect a prank soon, possibly as soon as he was done laughing.

Bandana Dee rolled his eyes, trying to keep himself from chuckling or losing his facade of looking aloof.

Meta Knight and Fumu were leaning against each other so they didn't fall over in laughter.

Kirby finally broke out giggling himself, thinking that perhaps things weren't as dark and depressing as he'd seen when he first woke up.

And as Dedede and Meta Knight started a food-swiping competition, it clicked in Kirby's mind that now was a time to be happy...

So he was.

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><p>I wrote this story solely for the sake of being able to write chapter 5, and look what grew out of it. This is probably not the best of my works, but I completed it regardless of the challenges I had writing it! So hooray for chapter 5, because if I ever delete this, chapter 5 will become its own story...y'know, just a note...<p>

...and thus, it is time for me to say 'The End'. I believe this is the first multi-chaptered fic I have gotten to do that in.


End file.
